KUALA LUMPUR (May 21): Press Metal Bhd has suspended operations for safety reasons at its Samalaju smelting plant, which is operated by its 80%-subsidiary Press Metal Bintulu Sdn Bhd, after a fire broke out on Sunday (May 17), which damaged some of its equipment.

In a filing today, the company said a few smelting pots were damaged and electricity supply to other smelting pots was disrupted.

“Subsequently, although electricity supply was restored and the pots seemed to emit heat, the continued operation of these pots was not stable and became more risky for the smelting operation over the last couple of days.

“Hence, in the interest of safety for the plant and its operations, as well as the workers, the company has decided to cease its operations pending a clean-up, and to carry out repair for these damaged pots and the necessary testing before commissioning,” said Press Metal (fundamental: 0.95; valuation: 2).

The company said it will re-commence operations after the initial ramp-up for the smelting pots, which will be carried out in one month’s time.

The financial impact of the fire has yet to be finalised, the company said, but added it is adequately insured, pending the insurance company’s assessment and loss survey.

Following the announcement, trading in Press Metal’s shares were suspended for an hour, from 2.30pm to 3.30pm today.

Prior to the suspension, Press Metal was trading at RM2.69, down 11 sen or 3.93%, bringing its market capitalisation to RM3.49 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)